when all the computers in cyberspace are linked together so that their combined knowledge exceeds all the brain power of all humanity combined..... we will realize we have only scratched the surface of what man can know.

and dont forget -- imagination trumps knowledge:

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination

knowledge will take you from a to b; imagination will take you everywhere

Yes, plants have spent a very long time developing millions of toxins to stop insects and animals and bacteria, fungi and anything else from eating them. It's not surprising that they have produced neurotoxins too. Befuddling animals which then get eaten by tigers is a good strategy for self-defence. Some more intelligent primates would figure out for themselves that neurotoxins are best not ingested.

Yes, and computers will be able to really get imagination going. Humans are too stuck in the prosaic to do much imagining. Most humans can barely imagine their way home, even if sober.

<The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imaginationknowledge will take you from a to b; imagination will take you everywhere>

Cyberspace will be fast enough and clever enough to try all possible ideas. Humans are limited to a few of the more obvious ideas and have to focus on one, lumbering after it over a period of years, decades or centuries.

U.S. corn stockpiles are poised to be the smallest in 16 years by August and soybean reserves will be lower than the government expected, potentially accelerating food-price inflation in an election year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture may say tomorrow that corn inventories on Aug. 31 will be 37 percent lower than a year earlier at 715 million bushels (18.2 million metric tons), the average of 32 analyst forecasts compiled by Bloomberg show. That compares with a projection of 801 million bushels last month. Soybean stockpiles will be 242 million bushels, down from a March prediction of 275 million, the survey showed.

The government is already predicting food inflation of 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent in 2012. While that’s down from 3.7 percent in 2011, it would be higher than gains in as many as five of the past eight years. Drivers are contending with gasoline prices that have jumped 20 percent this year, American Automobile Association data show. Global food costs rose for the third straight month in March, the United Nations said April 5.

“Consumers will see additional price gains this year,” said Corinne Alexander, an agricultural economist at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana. “There will be no relief for consumers until later this year if high prices lead to large world crops.”

Half Century Corn prices averaged $6.405 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade in the first quarter, 2.8 percent more than in the previous three months and the fifth-highest in data going back more than a half century. Soybeans averaged $12.752 a bushel, 8.1 percent more than in the fourth quarter. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Agriculture Index of eight commodities rose 1.8 percent this year.

U.S. corn reserves relative to usage may fall to the lowest ever this year, Morgan Stanley and Jefferies Bache LLC forecast. The grain, used mostly in livestock feed and to make ethanol, is the biggest U.S. crop by value, followed by soybeans, hay and wheat. The USDA report is set for 8:30 a.m. in Washington.

Cattle futures in Chicago reached a record $1.315 a pound on Feb. 22, partly because high corn-feed costs prompted farmers to shrink herds. Retail prices of pork chops and beef were close to all-time highs in February, government data show.

Cost of Living The cost of living in the U.S. rose in February by the most in 10 months as gasoline costs jumped. The consumer-price index climbed 0.4 percent, after increasing 0.2 percent the prior months, the Labor Department said on March 16. The so-called core measure, which excludes more volatile food and energy costs, increased 0.1 percent.

Food inflation of 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent would still be better than in some of the past several years. Prices advanced 4 percent in 2007 and 5.5 percent in 2008, before moderating to gains of 1.8 percent in 2009 and 0.8 percent in 2010, according to the USDA. The UN’s global food index is still about 9 percent below the record reached in February 2011.

Higher food prices have yet to damp consumer confidence, with the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rising to minus 31.4 in the week ended April 1, the best reading since March 2008. Unemployment has dropped to 8.2 percent from as much as 10 percent in 2009, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. The presidential election is Nov. 6.

Corn surged the most in 21 months on March 30 after inventories as of March 1 fell more than analysts forecast to the lowest for that date since 2004. Futures rose 2.2 percent to $6.5825 a bushel last week, and traded at $6.6175 at 12:44 p.m. in Singapore today. Global stockpiles may fall 5.4 percent to 122.04 million tons by Sept. 30, the lowest since 2007, the Bloomberg survey of analysts showed.

‘Tight’ Supplies “U.S. supplies are going to be tight and that means we need good weather this year to improve inventories,” said Shawn McCambridge, the senior grain analyst for Jefferies Bache in Chicago. He said reserves before the harvest will fall to 626 million bushels, or equal to 4.9 percent of consumption, below the record low of 5 percent in 1974.

The U.S. was the world’s biggest shipper of corn, soybeans and wheat last year, USDA data show.

The country’s wheat surplus on May 31 may fall to 794 million bushels, compared with 825 million estimated by the USDA in March and 862 million a year earlier, according to the analysts surveyed. Futures in Chicago fell 3.4 percent to $6.385 a bushel last week, erasing this year’s gain. The May-delivery contract traded at $6.4125 after climbing 0.4 percent today.

Global Reserves Soybean futures have jumped 20 percent to $14.4425 this year after adverse weather cut output in South America. Global reserves as of Sept. 30 may tumble 20 percent to 55.34 million tons, analysts said in the Bloomberg survey.

Drought reduced production in Brazil, the second-biggest exporter last year, and Argentina, the third-largest. Combined production may fall 10 percent to 111.9 million tons from a record 124.5 million last year, the analyst survey showed.

“Supplies are tight,” said Alan Brugler, the president of Brugler Marketing & Management Inc. in Omaha, Nebraska. “The market will rally to encourage farmers to plant more soybeans and other oilseeds to make up for the lost production.”

Food costs drive up China inflation, driven by a 7.5% rise in politically sensitive food costs, up from the previous month’s 6.2%.

Food costs drive up China inflation,

Monday, April 09, 2012 - 08:36 AM

China’s inflation edged up in March as the government shifted focus from containing politically dangerous price rises to stimulating its slowing economy.

Consumer prices rose 3.6% over a year earlier, up from February’s 3.2%, data showed. That was driven by a 7.5% rise in politically sensitive food costs, up from the previous month’s 6.2%.

Beijing shifted focus from cooling prices to shoring up economic growth after inflation eased from a high of 6.5% in July.

Beijing has promised to ease lending curbs to help companies that have been battered by a slump in global demand.

Analysts expect economic growth that has declined steadily over the past year to fall to a new low of about 8% for the three months ending in March, down from 8.9% in the final quarter of 2011. Official data are due to be reported this week.

Forecasters had expected a temporary acceleration in inflation in March but say price rises should moderate in coming months.

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund have warned China and other developing countries to prepare for a possible global slowdown this year.

Chinese leaders tightened lending and investment curbs repeatedly in 2009 and 2010 to cool inflation and guide growth to a more sustainable level.

They reversed course in December and promised to loosen controls after an unexpectedly sharp fall in export demand.

The government has yet to announce major changes, but financial analysts say regulators are quietly easing access to credit.

(Reuters) - Global food prices rose in March for a third straight month with more hikes to come, the UN's food agency said on Thursday, adding to fears of hunger and a new wave of social unrest in poor countries.

Record high prices for staple foods last year were one of the main factors that contributed to the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as bread riots in other parts of the world.

The cost of food has risen again this year after coming down from a February 2011 record peak.

The FAO index, which measures monthly price changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 215.9 points in March, up from a revised 215.4 points in February, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said.

Although below the February 2011 peak of 237.9, the index is still higher than during a food price crisis in 2007-08 that raised global alarm.

"The food crisis has not gone away since then," said Emilia Casella, spokeswoman for the U.N.'s World Food Programme. "Prices are a big concern and have remained a large reason why people are food insecure."

The FAO's senior economist and grain analyst Abdolreza Abbassian told Reuters there was scope for more price rises in the first half of this year, particularly for corn and soybeans, which could also drive up the price of wheat.

The net cereal import bill of the low-income food-deficit countries, known as LIFDCs, is expected to rise to a record $32.62 billion in 2011/12 from $32.28 billion in 2010/11 because of higher prices and lower domestic production, the FAO said in March. Poor countries face unrest if they cannot find the cash.

"Rising food prices are placing fresh pressure on policymakers globally at a time when many governments just have less money," said Larbi Sadiki, an expert in North African politics at Britain's Exeter University.

"In north Africa, food subsidies are a red line, especially in Tunisia and Egypt," he said. "Citizens can be expected to take to the streets to demand social justice."

U.S. soybean futures rose about 7 percent in March and gained about 17 percent in the first quarter of this year spurred by concerns about tight supplies as drought hit South America and smaller U.S. plantings.

The FAO's Cereal Price Index averaged 227 points in March, up 1 point from February, with maize prices showing gains, supported by low inventories and a strong soybean market, the FAO said. Its FAO Oils/Fats Price index rose to 245 points in March, up 6 points, or 2.5 percent, from February.

OIL DRIVER

High oil prices have fanned inflationary concerns since the start of this year. Consumer prices in the 17 nations sharing the euro were up 2.6 percent in March from a year ago, despite the region's stumbling economy.

"The food price index has an extremely high correlation to oil prices and with oil prices up it's going to be difficult for food prices not to follow suit," said Nick Higgins, commodity analyst at Rabobank International.

Energy prices affect the production of fertilizers as well as food distribution and farm machinery usage costs.

"We really saw the (food index) declines in Q4 2011 as being anomalous and related more to sell offs from the threats posed by the European macroeconomic situation rather than agricultural fundamentals," he said

<if i believed that this very brief span of time in which i exist on earth is all there is to LIFE then as the apostle Paul says, i would be" the most miserable of men.... why not then just eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die (paraphrased).> That would be a very egocentric approach to life. I seem to be far from the most miserable of people, including swarms of religious people, and do not just eat, drink and be merry because my time is brief. I have very long horizons, extending far beyond my own consciousness and beyond that of humans.

Wouldn't you think "Heck, this is all the time I have, I'd better make it count. If I had all of eternity to mess around, there would be no hurry to get on and do good works." Wasting the little time merely eating, drinking and being merry would be somewhat pointless. If you take time to contribute to creating Utopia, future generations can also enjoy their temporal existence while enjoying the pursuit of the divine. It seems Paul had it back to front.

If Christians and other religious people were able to take a broader point of view than their own existence, they would see that there is more to life than the continuation of their own consciousness through silly ideas of rebirth or being Raptured into eternal life. In fact, I find I'm happier than the average tortured superstitious person who struggles to maintain their belief in supernatural things. I only have to cope with what's real. They have to cope with not just what's real, but all the imaginary things too.

Okay, Easter is over. Back to our regular programme - the pursuit of the money changers, gold and The Anglos.